Machine for combing fibrous materials



April 27, 1954 .1.. T. lEVANS, 2,676,362

MACHINE FOR coMBING FIBRous MATERIALS Filed Nov. 15. 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lllll IN V EN TOR. LEaNaHn 7.' EVANS,

Patented Apr. 27, 1954 MACHINE FOR COMBING FIBROUS MATERIALS Leonard T. Evans, Indianapolis, Ind. Application November 15, 1947, Serial No. 786,197

(Cl. lil-127') 3. Claims The present .invention relates to a method of combing brous materials, such as journal box waste, and to a machine especially designed and constructed to carry out that method. While I am particularly concerned with the renovationof used journal box Waste, I am oi the opinion that my method and machine are applicable in .the preparation of new waste, and in the processingr of other fibrous materials.

One step in renovating used journal box waste, after Washing with hot `clean oil to remove old oiland grease, moisture, and some foreign solids, is to attempt to straighten and loosen the snarled fibrous material to restore its spongy, resilient consistency which is -particularly desired in a material used for stuffing railroad journal boxes. So far as I am advised, it is substantially universal practice to shake, pull, and work snarled masses of such material, by hand, and thereafter to subject the worked material to treatment in a tumbling drum to discharge from the loosened mass dirt, lint, metallics and other undesirable foreign matter. Such manual working, vobviously results in wide departures from uniformity of consistency, dueto variations in the skill and care with which the working is performed, and further is far from satisfactorily effective because of the power required to straighten .and loosen such snarled masses. It is the primary object of my invention, then, to provide a method and means for Working such masses of material to accomplish the desired loosening, straightening, and breaking, at high speed, with unheard-of effectiveness, and with a relatively high degree of uniformity ef result.

The method of the present invention consists essentially, of engaging a mass of tangled, matted fibrous material with a `moving comb Whose `teeth are transversely spaced with respect to the line of movement of the comb, and concurrently engaging-the sa-me mass of material with a second moving comb, Whose teeth are similarly spaced, but staggered relative to the teeth of the first comb, the second comb being caused to move in the same direction but at a different speed. The result of this process, of course, is that individual strands -a-nd groups of strands of the iibrous material being Worked are entrained with the more rapidly moving comb, looping about its teeth, and are dragged past and between the teeth of the more slowly moving comb. Some such strands will be broken, while others will be straightened and Ybrought into a common alignment, Kand the whole Amass of material will be loosened, whereby hopelessly matted lumps and foreign matter will be more readily Segre: gated from the mass during the subsequent tumbling operation. I have found that journal box waste, when treated in accordance with the present process, is more uniform in consistency, and has an improved resilience, as compared with journal box waste treated in accordance with-previously known processes.

To the accomplishment of the above and vrelated objects, my invention may be embodied Ain the form illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, attention being called tothe fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that change may be made in the specic construction illustrated and described, so long as the scope oi the appended claims is not violated.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a machine constructed in accordance with the present invention and designed to carry out the method of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a more or less diagrammatic View of the comb-carrying assemblies and the driving means therefor;

Fig. 3 is an end elevation, partly in section, taken Vfrom the right hand end of Fig. 1; l

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one slat assembly forming a part of one of the combs; and

Fig. '5 is an enlarged fragmenta-l section of a slat assembly.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, it will be seen that I have illustrated a machine comprising a frame Il)A yproviding a suitable mounting for a transverse shaft II vcarrying a plurality of sprockets I2, and further providing a mounting for a spaced, parallel shaft I3 carrying a plurality of sprockets I4. An endlessarticulated element, indicated generally by the reference numeral I5, is mounted to run upon the sprockets I 2 and I li. The element I5 comprises a plurality of articulated chains Iii, the number of chains being equal to the number of sprockets on each shaft II and i3. In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, I have `shown two sprockets on each shaft, and two chains I6 running upon said sprockets. The chains .L5 =are bridged by a plurality of slats I'I, and in the illustrated embodiment of .my invention, the slats are placed in closely adjacent relation in a longitudinal series.

Each slat I1 carries a base strip i5, removably secured thereto by means of screws I9, or Aother suitable fastening means, and each strip ,I 1s provided with a series of perforations 29, spaced longitudinally of the strip, and therefore transversely of the element I5. Each perforation 20 is tapered from that side of the strip which is adapted to be pressed against the slat II toward the exposed side of the strip; and a pin or tooth 2| is driven through each of said perforations 2l). The teeth ZI are tapered, and are so proportioned and designed that the base of each tooth has a driving fit in its associated perforation 2l). After the teeth have been assembled with the strip I8, such strip may be secured to a slat i1 by means of the screws i5, or the like, whereafter the teeth 2l, of course, will project outwardly from the chains I5. The slats Il may be welded, or otherwise permanently or removably secured, to coresponding links in the two chains i5.

The frame I5 further provides journal mountings for two additional shafts 22 and 24, the shaft 22 carrying a plurality of sprockets 23 and the shaft 2d carrying a plurality of sprockets 25; and a second endless articulated element, indi cated generally by the reference numeral 25, is mounted to run upon the sprockets 23 and 25. The construction of the element 2B is similar to that of the element I5, including chains 2l running upon the sprockets and 25, and bridged by slat assemblies including teeth projections 28. The shaft 22 is positioned above the plane common to the axes of the shafts i i and i3, and beu tween the vertical planes including said axes but nearer the shaft il. The shaft 24 is positioned in a plane including stantially parallel with the plane common to the shafts il and I3, but considerably beyond the vertical plane including the shaft i3. The teeth 25 have a length substantially equal to the length of the teeth 2l, and the plane of the shafts 22 and 2li is so spaced from the plane of the shafts Il and I3 that the teeth 2l and the teeth 28 intersect a common plane, the teeth 2t clearing the strips i8, and the teeth 2l clearing the corre sponding strips of mined dimension which will vary between a sixteenth of an inch and a half inch, depending upon an adjustment later to be described, but which I presently believe will preferably be about one-eighth inch. on the element 2e is staggered relative to the teeth on the element I5, so that, in operation, the teeth 25 will pass between the teeth 2 i.

Arranged between the shafts iI and I3 are a shaft 25 carrying a plurality of sprockets 35 engaging the chains E5, and a shaft 3| carrying a plurality of sprockets 32, similarly engaging said chains. The function of the sprockets 3B and 32 is to support the upper run of the element i5 against sagging, thereby holding such upper run positively in the optimum relation to the lower run of the element 25.

The frame I5 provides a mounting for a motor 33 upon the spindle of which is mounted a V- pulley 31! driving, through a belt 35, a V-pulley on the input shaft 31 of a reduction gear unit 3d, whose output spindle carries a pinion 39. The pinion 35 meshes with a large gear #l0 carried on the shaft I5; and said gear meshes with an idler gear M which, in turn, meshes with a second idler gear 42 driving a small gear 43 on the shaft 24. The gear 42 is mounted on a shaft fifi, suitably journalled in the frame, and said shaft carries a sprocket #l5 driving, through a chain 4G, a sprocket il on a shaft d3 carrying a roll d5; and a conveyor belt 55 runs over said roll and over another roll 5| suitably journalled in the frame. The belt is thus positioned below the discharge end of the element i5 to receive material discharged therefrom. The operation of the shaft 22 and subi the element 25, by a predeter- The arrangement of the teeth i the conveyor 50 is such as to deliver material deposited thereon to a second conveyor belt 52 running over a roll 53 journalled on the frame Ill, and over another roll (not shown) disposed at such a position as to discharge material to another station for further treatment.

The shaft Il is journalled in movable blocks 54 guided in trackways 55 and adjustable toward and away from the axis of the shaft I3 by means of screws 55. Similarly, the shaft f2 is mounted in blocks 5l slidably guided in trackways 58 and adjustable toward and away from the axis of the shaft 25 by means of screws 59. The function of this type of mounting for the shafts II and 22, of course, is to permit adjustment of the tension upon the articulated members I5 and 2l.

Adjustment of the clearance between the iingers or teeth of each element and the base strips of the other element can be accomplished by shimming the trackways 53 relative to the frame III.

In operation, the motor 33 is energized to drive the gear it in a counter-clockwise direction as viewed in Fig. l. rThe upper run of the element l5 will thus be driven toward the left, as viewed in Fig. 2. Counter-clockwise motion of the gear il will result in clockwise rotation of the gear #i3 to drive the lower run of the element 2t toward the left as viewed in Fig. 2; but, because of the difference in pitch diameter between the gear di) and the gear 15, the lineal velocity of the element 25 will exceed that of the element I5. Preferably, the ratio between the gear il@ and the gear te will be such as to cause the speed of the element 25 to exceed the speed of the element I5 in the ratio of 3.6 to l. I have found that, for optimum results, the lineal velocity of the element 25 should be within the range between 60 feet per minute and 'l5 feet per minute. Under these con ditions, of course, the element i5 will run within the range between 162/3 feet per minute and 20.8 feet per minute. The strand characteristics of journal box waste will vary; and the longer the average strand of the material being worked, the slower should be the speed of the elements 25 and l5. lt is my ypresent opinion that, in a inachine such as l have here illustrated, which includes no means for readily varying the speed of the comb elements, optimum results will be obtained by operating the element 2e at a lineal velocity of approximately 69 feet per minute. While that speed is not perfect for all batches of waste fed through the machine, it will give good results on waste batches of varying characteristics.

In a waste renovating plant, used journal box waste will be passed through standard cleaning operations, and then will be fed to the illustrated machine, through the hopper 55. The hopper is preferably constructed with a relatively shallow mouth having a width corresponding to the width of the elements l5 and The material is discharged from the hopper onto that portion of the element l5 over which the element does not hang, and is engaged, at a plurality of points in a line transverse to the line of movement, by the teeth 2l. Thus, the material is carried into the region overhung by the element 2S. is the material comes into that region, it is engaged, at a plurality of points spaced transversely of its line of movement, by the teeth 25. Since the teeth 28 are moving somewhat more rapidly than are the teeth 2l they exert a combing action upon the waste, dragging engaged portions thereof between the more slowly moving teeth 2| to straighten, loosen, and align the elements of the mass oi material. As the' material begins to pass around the sprockets I4, the teeth 28 exert upon it a. force tending to disengage it from the teeth 2|; and, as the teeth 2l pass around the sprockets I4, the material drops therefrom onto the conveyor 50, which delivers it to the conveyor 52, which carries the material to the next station in the renovating process.

I claim as my invention:

1. A machine for combing fibrous materials such as journal box waste, comprising a pair of spaced rotors, an endless element mounted to run upon said rotors and provided with a plurality of outstanding iingers, a second pair of spaced rotors, a second endless element mounted to run upon said second pair of rotors and provided with a plurality of outstanding fingers, the lower run of said second element being positioned in adjacent parallelism with the upper run or said first element with the lingers of said adjacent runs in interdigitated relation, and means for driving said rotors to move said adjacent runs in a common direction at different speeds, each of said elements comprising a plurality of endless articulated members and one of each pair of rotors having driving connection with its associated articulated members, the articulated members of each element being bridged by a plurality of transversely-disposed slats arranged in a longitudinally-spaced series, said lingers being carried upon said slats in a transversely `spaced series on each slat, a base stripfor each slat, and means removably securing each base strip to its slat., each base strip being provided with a transversely-spaced series of perforations tapering toward the exposed side of said strip, and said fingers comprising tapered pegs driven into said perforations from the side of said strip abutting its slat.

2. A machine for combingv fibrous materials such as journal box waste comprising a pair of spaced rotors, an endless element mounted to run upon said rotors and provided with a plurality of outstanding, blunt-edged pulling ngers, a second pair of spaced rotors, a second endless element mounted to run upon said second pair of rotors and provided with a plurality of similar outstanding ngers, the lower run of said second element being positioned in adjacent parallelism with the upper run of said first element with the ngers of said adjacent runs in interdigitating relation, and means for driving said rotors to move the adjacent runs in a common direction at different speeds, the speed of said second element exceeding the speed of said first element in a ratio of approximately 3.6 to 1, and the speed of said second element being Within the range between sixty feet per minute and seventy-five feet per minute. y,

3. A machine for combing fibrous materials such as journal box waste comprising a toothed element, means for moving said element, at a velocity between 16% feet per minute and 20.8 feet per minute, from a material-receiving station toward a material-discharge station, the teeth of said element being arranged in a series spaced transversely of theline of movement of said element, a second toothed element, and means for moving said second element, at a velocity between feet per minute and 75 feet per minute, in the direction of movement of said first-named element, the teeth of said second element being arranged in a series spaced transversely of said line of movement and staggered relative to the teeth of said iirst-named element, said teeth of both said elements intersecting a common plane.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITEDV STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 209,376 Belser Oct. 29, 1878 370,286 Spalrr Sept. 20, 1887 554,265 Gunerman et al. Feb. 11, 1896 781,892 Mann Feb. 7, 1905 951,251 Korselt et al Mar. 8, 1910 1,157,780 Hollier Oct. 26, 1915 1,759,563 Arnold May 20, 1930 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 178 Austria May 1, 1899 259,740 Great Britain Oct. 21, 1926 

